Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

New Zealand court rejects global warming challenge from denialists

7 September 2012 (AFP) – New Zealand’s High Court on Friday dismissed a challenge launched by climate change sceptics against a government research agency’s finding that the temperature had risen in the past century. The court backed the science that led the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) to conclude that New Zealand’s […]

The driest season: Global drought causes major worries

By Tim Lister8 September 2012 (CNN) – Hurricane Isaac may have inundated the parishes of Louisiana, but for thousands of American farmers, it was a blessing, a reprieve from the most torrid summer on record. In much of North America, July was the hottest month since such a record was first taken. Crop yields have […]

Hurricanes whip up faster in warming world, says new study

By Becky Oskin 7 September 2012 (LiveScience) – Global warming may fuel stronger hurricanes whose winds whip up faster, new research suggests. Hurricanes and other tropical cyclones across the globe reach Category 3 wind speeds nearly nine hours earlier than they did 25 years ago, the study found. In the North Atlantic, the storms have […]

More than 50 million Americans short of food in 2011 – 17 million suffered ‘very low food security’

By Tami Luhby5 September 2012 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) – More than 50 million Americans couldn’t afford to buy food at some point in 2011, according to federal data. Children in some 3.9 million households suffered from food insecurity last year, with their families unable to provide them with adequate, nutritious food at times. Nearly 17 […]

Video: Weathergirl goes rogue

Arctic ice cover just reached its lowest point in recorded history. Pippa goes off script and drops some science. For more, check out Deep Rogue Ram (Facebook, Twitter). Filmed at Strut Studios in Vancouver. Starring Pippa Mackie and Kai Nagata. Written by Heather Libby. Weathergirl goes rogue Technorati Tags: global warming,climate change,North America,Arctic,sea ice,coal,oil production,Canada

Barack Obama swipes at Mitt Romney over climate change jibe

By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk 7 September 2012 Barack Obama chose the biggest night of his re-election campaign to acknowledge the dangers of climate change – and to take a swipe at Mitt Romney for turning global warming into a laugh line in his convention speech. Obama thrilled Democrats when he accepted his […]

For farms in the U.S. West, oil wells are thirsty rivals

By JACK HEALY5 September 2012 GREELEY, Colorado – A new race for water is rippling through the drought-scorched heartland, pitting farmers against oil and gas interests, driven by new drilling techniques that use powerful streams of water, sand and chemicals to crack the ground and release stores of oil and gas. A single such well […]

With food scarce from drought, desperate animals enter towns – ‘Right now, they’d eat about anything’

By JACK HEALY6 September 2012 DENVER – People move to the mountains to be closer to nature. But not this close. At least two candy stores have been burglarized this summer by ravenous, drought-starved bears. They are being struck by cars as they roam dark highways, far from their normal foraging grounds. Growing numbers are […]

Crops in India wilt in a weak monsoon season

By VIKAS BAJAJ3 September 2012 MURUMA, India – Vilas Dinkar Mukane lives halfway around the world from the corn farmers of Iowa, but the Indian sharecropper is at risk of losing his livelihood for the same reason: not enough rain. With the nourishing downpours of the annual monsoon season down an average of 12 percent […]

Coastline erosion due to sea level rise greater than previously thought: new study

4 September 2012 (PhysOrg) – A new model allows researchers at UNESCO-IHE, Delft University of Technology and Deltares to much more accurately predict coastline erosion due to rising sea levels. It would appear that the effects of coastline erosion as a result of rising sea-level rise in the vicinity of inlets, such as river estuaries, […]

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